george_on_the_outer

43,939

Before everyone ties themselves in knots or trades Gus out while making ridiculous assertions about his value to the side.... The AFL CBA has clause 4C which states: "c) In the event that the parties are unable to reach agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement by 30 June 2022 or such later date as agreed between the Parties, either Party may by the giving of 30 days’ notice in writing to the other Party terminate this Agreement provided that such notice shall not take effect before 1 November 2022" To put it simply, the aim of both parties is to have a new agreement in place by mid- year. This is important because this one runs out on 31 October and clubs and players need to know definitively how much they have to spend and earn for the coming years. Gus's manager would be absolutely remiss to tie his player into an arrangement today, since he is highly talented and sought after. By mid-year everyone will have a better idea of how much is on the table ( and it may be less than the current CBA, with the COVID disruptions).

Not worried about Liv....after all she won Geelongs B& F and AA selection at 19!...., just 2 years ago. And don't forget Brisbane played on Thursday night, so they are coming off a 4 day break!!

42,463

Clubs like us = all clubs. Docklands would have cost $30 if the AFL had waited for 9 years. And any capital gain would have accrued to the AFL= all clubs. To spend $200-$280 M was a waste of money.= all the clubs money.

They borrowed $200-280M to get a facility 9 years early. It would have been free in 2025. The maths says it needs to earn $25-$30M per year profit just to break even, disregarding any interest payments. It only returned $3M in 2016 $5M in 2017 and probably made losses in the past 2 years. The only benefit was to North, St.Kilda and Essendon who have been charged less for the use of the stadium...i.e. reduced profit to the new owner, the AFL. They simply should have paid more in distributions to these clubs and finished up with the stadium regardless. With less money in the kitty, the AFL has less to distribute to clubs like us.

The AFL borrowed $280M in 2016 to "purchase" Docklands. They would have paid $30...yes Thirty dollars! to own it outright when the financial arrangements concluded in 2025. It made $3M profit on $76M of income in 2016, and $5M on $78M of income in 2017. Hardly a financial goldmine, especially since if the profit was stable for the remaining 9 years it would have only totalled approximately $30-35M. The only windfall was to the Superannuation funds that owned it back then. Now how much income would it have had in the past two years of COVID with no crowds at Football, cricket or concerts? Furthermore, they have borrowed further against the asset to keep the competition going during that period. That was necessary, but it means more outgoings. https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/what-the-afl-has-planned-for-its-200-million-etihad-stadium-20170507-gvzo33 The AFL has supported Gold Coast to the tune of about $20M per year ( slightly reduced in 2021) for at least the past 5 years. Yes, it provides a TV spot for the AFL to sell, but how much better would it perform financially if the AFL cut the losses and ego and moved it to Tasmania? They are flogging a dead horse, which cannot attract sponsorship nor members, which ultimately means all the other clubs supporting this folly. All this means is that there is less money to be spent on OUR club, who still do not have a training base in 2021, and probably not until 2026, if we can piggy-back Commonwealth games infrastructure.

The problem is of the AFL's making. Giving Brisbane, Adelaide (still) and Fremantle complete access solely to their state has created 3 of the top 5 sides in the competition. And it means WCE, the Suns and next year Port are scraping the barrel for players. With the pay rates, no-one wants the expense of leaving their home state for 10 games a year. North and Melbourne shouldn't be penalised for providing the environment and structures for success, when there are 8 Victorian based sides, who all have the same pool to select from.

Ultimately this will mean AFL distributions to clubs will be reduced. If only they hadn’t wasted money on Gold Coast and buying dock lands stadium. And they probably will not be as supportive of any MFC training facility.

@Its Time for Back to Back has contacted the Membership department again.... Total now 41,970

Same way they tried to fit Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson and Atu Bosenavulagi into the cap......while keeping Grunday, Moore, De Goey, Pendelbury etc. ......

An unconvincing win, due totally to the poor kicking for goal. A win is a win, and scores in all games are dropping as the season goes on, but unless we fix the problems up forward, we might as well start engraving Adelaide’s name on the cup. I would like Daisy to move down back. She is not a natural forward, in that her first instinct is to give the ball off. Very useful in defenc, but not when scoring is so critical in the AFLW games. I think Bannan should move up the ground as another tall athletic target. And we need to develop someone else, since Daisy won’t be around forever. As @deeoldfart noted, Paxmans ability to move the ball by kicking it off the ground is exemplary, and others should be doing similar. Stop trying to pick the ball up when surrounded, just guarantees to be tackled. The real test is now coming with games against Brisbane, Freo etc. Good that we haven’t dropped games like we did the past couple of years. And can’t wait to see Purcell in the middle at the business end of the season.

An article in The Age today giving some background as to why Luke came to us, and some of the problems at the Saints: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/dunstan-shares-trade-period-stress-in-new-afl-documentary-20220209-p59v2x.html

@Its Time for Back to Backhas been in contact with the Membership department..... Today tally: 41,562. ..... we didn't reach this mark until 28 March last year If we disregard the pattern of sign-ups from last year, due to COVID, then the takeaway is from now on until season start we add about 1,000 per week. On the week of first game we add around 2-3 K, but the increase year on year is basically the increase over previous at this point in time. In other words, we are up by about 10K today, so the final number should be around 65K.

All will be fine @picket fence and earth people. Petracca, Spargo and TMac are all in the sick bay under the watchful eye of Dr. Leonard McCoy. Based on his medical skills, they should be back on the track tomorrow!

Match has now been moved forward to Saturday 7.10 pm. Shown on Ch 7 https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1053876/fixture-update-dees-clash-with-suns-brought-forward

@picket fencewould have the best idea, but Friday seems to be common.

Middle of the year. Ground under rebuild. All training at Casey. Girls training on Collingwoods oval.

Agree. She was put forward last year because we had no-one else. Now we have Harris and Bannon. Daisy doesn’t like set shots, not good for a forward. At HB she can read the play and position herself to defend. Hibberd, May and Lever aren’t sprinters, but they know where to go and when. Daisy similar. And her abilities aren’t used when , like in this game, the ball rarely entered the forward 50, but the backs were crying out for help.

It’s actually the way it has been used in the AFLW for the past seasons. Get caught with the ball, pinged. Prior doesn’t exist. But it is consistent.

We were seriously in trouble when Zanker and Paxman were unable to contribute in the middle. Putting Goldrick in there really showed others how to play football against seasoned strong opposition. Also was impressed by the first class efforts of McNamara who just kept getting the ball when others couldn't. I wish Mick Stinear would wake up in the same way as he did half way through last year. Short kicking was the go in the early years of AFLW, because players who could kick beyond 20m was rare. Now they can, and so it requires a territory game, not a possession game. And in the same line, kick the ball off the ground, don't try to pick it up....kick the ball as first option, not handball, especially in the middle. The game has changed and improved, what worked previously doesn't today. Especially when we have a good core of talented players who do have the skills to execute long and deep, and have the forwards to capitalise on that. Make no mistake. Adelaide is the SA state side and have been gifted this through AFL poor planning again. So no small wonder their girls are bigger stronger and more skilled than other sides, given SA is a football state.

No use complaining about the forwards… the ball isn’t getting in there. The inside 50 count tells that. while we move the ball though the short kick and mark game and attempted handball it slows the movement into the forward line.

Any chance we can play on? Instead of trying the slow possession game. Only allows Adelaide to set up.

They are the only team in SA, that’s why they have won a couple of Premierships already.

Shouldn't it be Ball... Yeah! not Ball...ah!